


To repay first circumstance in dividends

by Morgyn Leri (morgynleri)



Series: As It All Burns [11]
Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, GFY, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-15
Updated: 2015-08-15
Packaged: 2018-04-14 19:03:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4576197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morgynleri/pseuds/Morgyn%20Leri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The others are waiting in the corridor for Rex, lined up as if they were still soldiers, not clones who are branded traitors by the army they've defected from. Waiting for their captain, and Rex draws a deep breath, looking over the clones who've followed him this far.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To repay first circumstance in dividends

There's a small, private hanger in the shadow of the walls of the palace of the Counts of Serenno, just large enough for the freighter that lands there in the middle of the night. No customs, no overt security, just a quiet com-call that wakes Dooku from sleep to alert him of the arrival, and the registry number on the hull. It is enough, despite the late hour, for him to get up, wrapping a cloak around his sleeping robes before he pads down to the private entrance.

"Captain Ebra." He tilts his head to the waiting Zabrak, catching the edge of her Force-presence before she draws back behind her shields, a silent greeting and reassurance that has become ritual for these late nights.

"Count Dooku." She nods back, glancing past him as if waiting for someone else. "Is Master Jinn in residence, or has he settled in at the complex you were building when I left?"

"He has rooms here, part of a suite." Dooku frowns, puzzled by the question, and reaches out lightly in the Force to look for her passengers.

"I improved the shielding on her since last time you tried that, Count." Ebra smiles, a sharp edge to the expression for all the warmth in it. "I can wait for Master Jinn to be woken, though I'd rather not be here all night."

"You can return to Carannia and spend as long as you like in the space-port cantinas. I would prefer not to wake my padawan for a simple delivery of passengers."

Ebra snorts. "He won't thank you for leaving him sleep through this one."

"Who did you smuggle out of the Empire now that would be so important to him?" Dooku has a hope - and a fear - of who it might be, but he doesn't voice it.

"Wake him up and bring him down here and you'll find out." Ebra crosses her arms over her chest, lightly tapping the fingers of one hand on her upper arm. Waiting with outward impatience, but she still has the abiding Jedi serenity, and Dooku doubts the other is anything but a mask. What she's masking, though, is the question. "I'm sure His Grace would appreciate the opportunity to invite Master Jinn to greet my passenger on Raxus instead."

Dooku glares at Ebra for a long moment before he goes to the com panel to page Qui-Gon, ignoring the quiet snort from Ebra at his use of technology. The training bond between them hadn't been strong, and had withered naturally after Qui-Gon had been knighted.

"What is it, Master?" Qui-Gon sounds as if he hasn't done more than sit up to answer the com, voice sleep-rough and quiet.

"One of the smugglers who conveys passengers from the Empire insists that you should be present when her passengers leave her ship." Dooku keeps his irritation at Ebra leashed, though he doubts he has hidden it entirely from Qui-Gon. "She will not tell me who those passengers might be until you have joined us at the private hanger."

There's silence from Qui-Gon a moment, though there's the faint rustle of fabric that suggests he's at least getting out of bed. "I will be there shortly."

* * *

"Do you always keep enough extra civvies to outfit a whole squad?" Rex makes a face at himself in the 'fresher mirror, not entirely certain how to be comfortable out of armor and out of uniform.

"Not a lot of us defect in smaller numbers." Cody is leaning against the wall next to the door of the bunk-room. "It's useful to have enough to keep people from staring until the shineys can be integrated into the army, if they want to keep fighting."

Rex doesn't know how many would want to do that, to fight against their own brothers, even though they're steadily being replaced by born recruits in the Empire. Either because they're killed or because they defect; he has no illusions that those who go AWOL stay anywhere near the Empire. It isn't what they were made to protect and fight for.

"I don't know if I will." Rex can't stop being a soldier, but he doesn't want to return to the front lines and face his own brothers. "Have a lot of the Jedi gone into the smuggling business?"

"Some." Cody shrugs, meeting his gaze as he turns away from the mirror. "I don't know how many. No one asks who was a Jedi and who wasn't, before, not in this."

It's safer that way, and Rex nods. He doesn't ask if there's room on this ship for a third, though he doubts Cody would turn down an extra pair of eyes and blasters to help keep Captain Ebra safe. It doesn't feel right, though what does feel right, he doesn't know.

The com crackles to life next to the door, and Rex looks toward it at the same time Cody does, listening for Ebra's voice.

"Confirmed for debarkation on Serenno. Whenever you're ready."

The others are waiting in the corridor for Rex, lined up as if they were still soldiers, not clones who are branded traitors by the army they've defected from. Waiting for their captain, and Rex draws a deep breath, looking over the clones who've followed him this far. Echo and Fives, Jesse and Kix, Dogma and Hardcase. Others might have, if they'd been there when the Temple fell, and he let the Jedi ships rise from the rubble to dare the ships in orbit. If the 501st hadn't been shattered all to pieces, and most scattered to other commands.

"Fall in." He turns toward the outer hatch, the others forming two lines behind him, still a squad even though they're no longer soldiers, filing out into a dimly-lit hanger which holds four people waiting for them.

Rex blinks in surprise, though he doesn't stop until he's standing before the gathered group. "Master Jinn."

Qui-Gon smiles, and reaches out to clasp his hand on Rex's shoulder as he had the last time Rex had seen him. Before Order 66, before the rise of the Empire, before the seige he'd conducted so it wouldn't fall to someone more assiduous and less sympathetic. "Captain Rex."

There is silence a moment, and Rex takes that time to study the Jedi Master. The scars on his face, and the little twi'lek girl holding onto his one hand and trying not to yawn, make something settle in his chest. The decision is easy and feels _right_. Rex turns a little, looking at the older man he recognizes from briefings more than personal experience.

"Sir. Is there anywhere to sign up to watch over Jedi Masters who don't look out for themselves enough?"

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from "Pearl", by Mediaeval Baebes, particularly from the translation into modern English.


End file.
